Don't you hate theives?

[hobbyfarm]

Don\'t you hate theives?

Just got home and found my air compressor, walk-behind mower, and a couple of bench-top tools missing from the utility shed. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

My only comfort is that I believe that I've gotten most of my money's worth out of these items! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
I hope these kids [yes, I think they're youngsters] get a painful boil on their rumps for their effort! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
On the plus side, I get to convince the wife that we gotta go shopping now!

 

[EddieWalker]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

I'm sorry to hear about the theft of your tools.

For me, it's not so much the value of what I've lost since I've always been able to replace stolen items. It's the feeling of helpless violation that really bothers me.

I'm glad you have a good attitude about it and I hope you find some good tools to replace your loss.

 

[JimR]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

Don't be surprised if they return for a second trip if there is more to be had. I'd ----- the **** if I had the chance to.

 

[OkeeDon]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

I have a really unusual twist to a theft. I got my stuff back!

I have a commercial property that housed my store before I retired. It needed work before it could be sold. I was making good progress until (1) I had some health problems, and (2) it got hit by two hurricanes. Since then, the work has been sporadic, and the property is often unattended.

Inside, I had LOTS of tools. One morning in the middle of December I showed up to do some work, and the french door had been smashed open. A plasma cutt er and a number of hand tools were missing, a mig welder was out in the parking lot, and a tig welder was half in and half out of the door (it's really heavy). Some other tools were scattered around. I called the police, they took some pictures, but didn't even bother to fingerprint. I figured that would be the end of it.

Last Wednesday, I got a call from a police detective. He had caught the kid, the kid had confessed to this and a couple of dozen other burglaries, had led the detective to a friend's house where he had stored all the contraband, and told the detective where each item had been stolen.

On Thursday, I went to the police evidence room, identified my stuff, and brought it home. I will be pressing charges, there will be a restitution hearing, and I should get a judgement for the repairs to my door. Unfortunately, only one of the kids involved has confessed so far, and the detective needs a lucky break to tie in the others he "knows" were involved.

It turns out that they are about 14 years old, and are building "custom" bicycles. The use parts from stolen bicycles to concert their bikes to 3-wheelers, then build a plywood box on the back of the bike, between the wheels. Then, they use stolen car stereos and speakers to produce a trike-mounted boom box. They power them with stolen batteries. In my case, they took a scoket set, two air nailers, grinders, and other tools they planned to use to build the bikes, They thought the plasma cutter was a mig welder -- it is a Daytona Mig brand cutter, and they took a spool of wire and my small argon bottle along with the cutter.

I am REALLY pleased to get the stuff back. Apparently, the other welders, etc. were left behind because they were too heavy for the bicycles to transport!

Who knows -- maybe your luck will be as good! I certainly hope so...

 

[Golfgar4]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

Sorry to hear about your loss. You've got a great attitude about the lousy situation, and that will help you get over it. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Quite a few years ago, I was doing some remodeling in my home. I had almost all of my power tools out in my garage laying right alongside a refrigerator. One morning I came out and found the fridge door ajar. I knew that I had closed it the previous evening, so I looked inside, and sure enough all of the beer that I had was gone. It was probably about 3/4 of a case. I got worried and checked all of my tools, and they were all there!

That's when I started laughing. I noticed that the empty beer case was still sitting alongside of the fridge, so I was imagining these kids trying to carry off all of these beer bottles without dropping them when they could have loaded them right into a case and carried them out!

So I was lucky not to have all of my tools stolen, and had a good laugh out of it too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[EastTexFrank]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> It's the feeling of helpless violation that really bothers me </font> )</font>

I couldn't agree with you more. We've never been robbed in the States (touch wood) apart from a couple of car break-ins but we were ripped off twice when we lived in London. My wife felt so unsafe and violated that on both occasions we had to move. Personally, it didn't bother me too much since they were both rental properties but I hated the mess and damage they made in order to steal what amounted to relatively minor dollars.

 

[RonL]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

A few years back, when I was assigned to the staff of the Training Academy, I was sent to the Cooper Institute in Dallas. It was a weak long PT certification course. It consisted of daily classroom work, training, and measurments( blood pressure, heart rates, body fat measurment, oxygen uptake, etc.). At the end of the day I would put my dirty sweats, socks, underwear, etc. into a bag. At the end of a week, because I bought souvenirs and other things to bring back, I did not have room in my suitcase for the bag of laundry. I went to a shipping store, put the bag of laundry into a box and shipped it back to Mass.
UPS delivered it to my front porch. Someone stole it. I would have paid to see the idiots faces when they opened the box. And, I filed a claim and got $100.00 back. I still laugh about it. Sometimes it turns out OK.

RonL

 

[Mith]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

i was just talking about this matter to an old lady that i regularly visit.
its sad that now i cant leave my shed open when i go to get something from next door, leave my tractor/strimmer/trailer out on the driveway for fear of someone stealing it.
personally i have not yet had something stolen, my parents had a trailer and lawnmower stolen from the back garden in broad daylight
hey ho, just keep the insurance topped up i guess

 

[hobbyfarm]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( For me, it's not so much the value of what I've lost since I've always been able to replace stolen items. It's the feeling of helpless violation that really bothers me. )</font>

Hey EddieWalker,
Yeah, and don't forget the hidden loss that most people don't think of: the loss of trust in your fellow man. It tends to make me wary of visitors etc. after that.
phil

 

[hobbyfarm]

Re: Don\'t you hate theives?

Hey Don,
That's a stroke of luck and good detective work! I've never had any positive results from law enforcement after reported burglaries. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I believe this close to Mexico, they have their hands full with drugs, gangs and auto theft. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Also, sorry to hear about your hurricanes. We could use a couple here to fill up Falcon Resevior and kill the drought.
phil